Breadcrumb

Bio
I am a glaciologist, geophysicist, and photographer.
My research is focused on glacier mechanics and dynamics, and particularly on the behavior of ocean-ending glaciers and glacier contributions to sea level. I have done field research for more than 30 years in glacier regions from Alaska to Antarctica to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. For about a decade starting in the late 1990s, I led the long-term study of Columbia Glacier, on Alaska’s South Central Coast, a research program started by glaciology pioneers Mark Meier (also an INSTAAR Director, from 1985 to 1994) and Austin Post. Columbia Glacier is one the world’s most extensively studied and most rapidly changing glaciers, and has been the source of many crucial insights about glacier-ocean interaction. I have served as an advisor to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), and was a Lead Author for Chapter 13 (Sea Level Change) in the IPCC Fifth Assessment/Working Group I (2010-2014). I also operate WT Pfeffer Geophysical Consultants, LLC, providing consulting modeling, analysis, and assessments on sea level rise and glacier-related hazards.
In addition to my scientific work, my photography has appeared in many publications in the US and Europe. I am the author of The Opening of a New Landscape: Columbia Glacier at Mid-Retreat, published by the American Geophysical Union in 2007. My most recent book, The Hand of the Small Town Builder, published by David R. Godine, was published in Spring 2014.
I also served as a 2015-16 Jefferson Science Fellow at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, DC.
Education
- PhD: University of Washington, 1987
- MS: University of Maine, 1981
- BS: University of Vermont, 1976
Awards
- Jefferson Science Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2015
- Nye Lecture, American Geophysical Union, 2011
- University of Colorado Council on Research and Creative Work, Sabbatical Year Support, 2007
Research
Specialties
Glaciology, continuum mechanics, heat transfer, analysis and numerical methods.
Research interests
Sea level rise, hydrology, natural hazards, geophysical and architectural photogrammetry, science policy.
Publications
Recent publications
Land Ice and Sea Level Rise A Thirty-Year Perspective
Publication Date: 2011-06-01
Type: Journal Article
High-resolution study of layering within the percolation and soaked facies of the Greenland ice sheet
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Mountain Glaciers and Ice Caps
Type: Chapter
Iceberg calving during transition from grounded to floating ice: Columbia Glacier, Alaska
Publication Date: 2010-08-07
Type: Journal Article
Twentieth-century Changes in the Thickness and Extent of Arapaho Glacier, Front Range, Colorado
Publication Date: 2010-05-01
Type: Journal Article
LAND-BASED MARGINAL ICE CLIFFS: FOCUS ON KILIMANJARO
Publication Date: 2010-04-01
Type: Journal Article
The surprising motion of ski moguls
Publication Date: 2009-11-01
Type: Journal Article
Integrated research on mountain glaciers: Current status, priorities and future prospects
Publication Date: 2009-01-15
Type: Journal Article
Rapid glacier sliding, reverse ice motion and subglacial water pressure during an autumn rainstorm
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Type: Journal Article
People and places in the Far North: The vision of life, community, and change in the circumpolar Arctic, and its public perception
Type: Chapter
Kinematic constraints on glacier contributions to 21st-century sea-level rise
Publication Date: 2008-09-05
Type: Journal Article
Diurnal fluctuations in borehole water levels: configuration of the drainage system beneath Bench Glacier, Alaska, USA
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Source mechanics for monochromatic icequakes produced during iceberg calving at Columbia Glacier, AK
Publication Date: 2007-11-21
Type: Journal Article
Glaciers dominate Eustatic sea-level rise in the 21st century
Publication Date: 2007-08-24
Type: Journal Article
A simple mechanism for irreversible tidewater glacier retreat
Publication Date: 2007-08-04
Type: Journal Article
Two modes of accelerated glacier sliding related to water
Publication Date: 2007-06-29
Type: Journal Article
Seismic detection and analysis of icequakes at Columbia Glacier, Alaska
Publication Date: 2007-05-03
Type: Journal Article
Evolving force balance at Columbia Glacier, Alaska, during its rapid retreat
Publication Date: 2005-09-20
Type: Journal Article
Comment on "The potential for sea level rise: New estimates from glacier and ice cap area and volume distribution" by S. C. B. Raper and R. J. Braithwaite
Publication Date: 2005-09-03
Type: Journal Article
Evolution of subglacial water pressure along a glacier's length
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Diurnal water-pressure fluctuations: timing and pattern of termination below Bench Glacier, Alaska, USA
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Tidewater glaciers move at their own pace
Publication Date: 2003-12-11
Type: Journal Article
Depth-varying constitutive properties observed in an isothermal glacier
Publication Date: 2002-12-14
Type: Journal Article
Temperature gradient and initial snow density as controlling factors in the formation and structure of hard depth hoar
Publication Date: 2002-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Spatial variability in the flow of a valley glacier: Deformation of a large array of boreholes
Publication Date: 2001-05-10
Type: Journal Article
Pages
Teaching
Past courses
- CVEN 3698: Engineering Geology
- CVEN 4718/5718: Mechanics/Dynamics of Glaciers
- CVEN 5838: Mechanics/Dynamics of Landslides and Rockfalls
---
Outreach
---